Finally tried companions for the first time

FantasticFreddie

I chose Ember. She's cute, she says a lot of fun things. I enjoy having her out and about, which is great because....

She's USELESS.

She hits like a wet noodle. I bought her some new gear to beef her up, but she is still low level and pretty weak.

Does she gain XP when I do? No. She only gains XP on kills.

We SAVED THE WORLD TOGETHER, but apparently she doesn't gain any experience from that.

Nor do I gain rapport. We do quests together all day long, but it doesn't make the slider shift at all. Oh and she hates fishing. So, we gain about 3 rapport a day, via harvesting runestones, which, despite her constantly begging, BEGGING, to watch me actually use them in something, zero reaction when I do! Making glyphs, using glyphs, no reaction, nada, zip, zilch, zero.

She's never going to level up mages guild etc because I absolutely cannot be bothered with doing all the dailies.

If a world boss targets her she will drag it away and reset it.

She can't even carry her own gear????
She's cute and I like her sass. But the sheer amount of work it takes to make her anything other than a pretty trinket means I'm not going to bother with companions overall.

Some improvements I'd like to see:

Passive rapport gains. Maybe something like for every hour you have a companion out you gain 1 rapport.

Increased experience gains. Something like 5% of the player's base experience gain, nothing you can cheese with a XP scroll or anything, just an acknowledgement they are there with you while you quest and discover things.

THE ABILITY TO CARRY THEIR OWN GEAR. How was this not built in???

And for Ember specifically.... LET HER WATCH ME MAKE GLYPHS!! LET HER INTERACT WITH AN ENCHANTING TABLE! LET THIS POOR GIRL LIVE HER ENCHANTING DREAMS DANG IT

Carcamongus

You gain a lot of rapport with her by doing delve dailies in High Isle and heists in Hew's Bane. She also likes it when you kill wolves, pickpocket and use those blue pardon edicts. Like you, I was disappointed when I found out she doesn't care when you craft glyphs, despite her enthusiasm for collecting runes.

AcadianPaladin

Sorry for your frustration. Your good ideas like giving companions a small companion gear inventory so they can carry some alternate gear has been asked for before. Same with having companions level based on your xp instead of just kills. So ZoS is aware that those things would go over well.

In the meantime, there is a learning curve and, based on some of your observations, the following maybe of some help (I hope):
- Ember gets a small rapport boost from finding runestones and entering any outlaw den. Those gains are small but easy to do (subject to cooldowns).
- Her big rapport boost comes from doing a MG daily. Once you've done all 15 of them, they are easy to do.
- To level her FG, MG and undaunted skill lines to max only requires 10 of each guilds dailies and it is those nice easy delve ones for the Undaunted (not pledges).
- Any ranged weapon except a frost staff can cause Ember to dodgeroll excessively and risk resetting bosses. The solution until ZoS makes some needed tweaks is to simply give her a frost staff if you want ranged dps. Just make sure you don't slot the destruction skill on her that includes a taunt when using ice staff unless you want her to taunt.
- Unfortunately, you have to remember to send her to the litter box when you want to do some fishing.
- Be patient and tinker with gear and skills. Ember can do moderate damage and be quite survivable if set up right.

Though I prefer Mirri best of the four companions, Ember is a close second and she has some neat skills. Overall, I love companions - while fully supporting some of the improvements I hope come for them.

francesinhalover

yeah non of my companions reached max rapport or is max lvl. i just can't be bothered.

they should earn at least 10 or 5 rapport per hour.

I literally saved morrowind with mirri. Yet she treats me like a stranger

That being said i had no idea how fun doing the dailys could be, i just like exploring the delves with a mini objective and even doing those public dungeons, in such a big game like eso it's just fun, unless they are far farrr away from a shrine.

Riptide

They aren’t much more than a vanity pet really. Marginally useful as a tank in normal dungeons and so forth in certain spots, but almost entirely novelty really. I can’t think of anything they’ve allowed me to do I couldn’t solo with even a wee bit of more effort.

Like many things in ESO, not very well planned and never truly fleshed out.

Better than the card game at least.

Carcamongus

It's nice to have someone following me on my adventures, so I don't worry too much about whether companions add much to combat. I try to get Mirri good gear, but I gave her a bow because, well, melee companions tend to die quickly. I would have used followers in Skyrim as well if my awful aim didn't mean I tended to hit them almost as often as I hit the baddies.

FluffWit

Only thing I've found one helpful for for was soloing Dragonstar. Isobel tanking made it much easier and saved my ass a few times.

I'd imagine they can also be useful for world bosses and solo dungeons but I haven't bothered with those.

FantasticFreddie

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

Sorry for your frustration. Your good ideas like giving companions a small companion gear inventory so they can carry some alternate gear has been asked for before. Same with having companions level based on your xp instead of just kills. So ZoS is aware that those things would go over well.

In the meantime, there is a learning curve and, based on some of your observations, the following maybe of some help (I hope):
- Ember gets a small rapport boost from finding runestones and entering any outlaw den. Those gains are small but easy to do (subject to cooldowns).
- Her big rapport boost comes from doing a MG daily. Once you've done all 15 of them, they are easy to do.
- To level her FG, MG and undaunted skill lines to max only requires 10 of each guilds dailies and it is those nice easy delve ones for the Undaunted (not pledges).
- Any ranged weapon except a frost staff can cause Ember to dodgeroll excessively and risk resetting bosses. The solution until ZoS makes some needed tweaks is to simply give her a frost staff if you want ranged dps. Just make sure you don't slot the destruction skill on her that includes a taunt when using ice staff unless you want her to taunt.
- Unfortunately, you have to remember to send her to the litter box when you want to do some fishing.
- Be patient and tinker with gear and skills. Ember can do moderate damage and be quite survivable if set up right.

Though I prefer Mirri best of the four companions, Ember is a close second and she has some neat skills. Overall, I love companions - while fully supporting some of the improvements I hope come for them.

I just don't much enjoy doing dailies-- but that it is only 10 of each makes its sound a bit more doable.

I pick the occasional lockbox and fence the proceeds, that makes her happy. One of these days I'll go do the thieves guild quest line, maybe she'll like that.

FantasticFreddie

Also, she is always asking to race AND THAT SOUNDS FUN!
Zos, let us race to the nearest wayshrine. I'll even let her win.

DMuehlhausen

The whole system is pretty bad. This was made specifically to cater to the SKyRim MuLTI PlayeR crowd. They have their own game and could play it, but no they want this one ruined with worthless features.

That being said if they are going to have them the definitely need to rework how you grind xp and rapport. Sure you can have some large daily ones, but the cool down on some of the things is just idiotic.

PrimusTiberius

I don't expect them to hit hard, so why such a grind to get their rapport up? For me, the grind to get their rapport to 100% is too much and I lose interest, they get in the way half the time, the purple drops are as rare as a solar eclipse happening in my backyard and the cost for companion gear is a joke, considering how little they do. Do players really spend that kind of gold on companion gear?

Dawnblade

Companions should gain XP anytime the player gains XP, not just for kills.

Companion XP for low-level characters needs to be scaled up to what it would be for a player at 50 doing the same activity.

Rapport system they might as well delete or start over - it's garbage, not going to bother as it is.

Performance isn't great - acceptable though I guess, if they were much better, they might feel more 'required' than optional.

Leveling guild lines is just a time sink, but it really isn't that bad (they gain 1 level per 1 daily).

Survivability is terrible - a mob can sneeze on them and they die.

Some have wonky behaviors that cause issues - as mentioned with the rolling away and resetting fights - still needs work.

ZOS_Hadeostry

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic.

Thank you for your understanding

FluffWit

They weren't asking for help. Just pointing out the companions are pretty much useless..... I guess that's useful? Maybe get @ZOS_Kevin to put up an announcement about it?

orgin_stadia

I turn all companions into healers. Saves me from casting heals and shields as much.

Auldwulfe

I like Mirri, and just about have her maxed on rapport with my Breton Sorcerer ... with a bow - yeah, she does the dodge roll, but if I move so we have a 90 degree attack on the targets, they tend to come for me, and she doesn't roll as much.... usually not trying to flip all the way back to Vvardenfell, as some have said.... haven't tried a frost staff, but that could be interesting.

I have a character that is a Paladin, and he works fine with Isobel ...... Imperial Templar, built as sword and board tank on front, 3 handed stampede on back ..... it's hilarious when we both shield charge a target from each side....

I cannot stand Bastion..... I had him dropped 5 minutes after my first character picked him up.... I have tried several times, and, honestly, too many of my characters have him as an option...... obviously, I am a glutton for annoyance.

I have a similar problem with Ember ... the idea of a Khajiit was awesome... and what we got was a ADHD street teen that just happens to have a tail...... I get that it is part of her backstory, but still, it would have been nice to have had someone more like Khamira .....

In addition to the suggestions above.... I'd love to have 2 companions of every race, one of each gender..... that way you could pick the one that worked best with your character

Auldwulfe

FantasticFreddie

ZOS_Hadeostry wrote: »

Greetings,

After further review we have decided to move this thread to a category we think is more appropriate for this topic.

Thank you for your understanding

That's really cool and all, but, why?

ghastley

Having a companion helping means a tank can play solo without everything taking forever. And it’s the tank’s job to pull the boss back if he chases the roll-dodging companion. Good practice, there.

Some less obvious things like giving them a melee weapon to keep them close, even if they are built for healing, cuts down on the resetting problem, too.

FantasticFreddie

ghastley wrote: »

Having a companion helping means a tank can play solo without everything taking forever. And it’s the tank’s job to pull the boss back if he chases the roll-dodging companion. Good practice, there.

Some less obvious things like giving them a melee weapon to keep them close, even if they are built for healing, cuts down on the resetting problem, too.

I guess it just seems like either something like armory, it is soooo much easier to just slap some damage gear and skills on a tank and go to town by myself, rather than rely on a weak NPC to kill stuff for me.

Maybe I am just not the target audience.

Like I said, I like Ember and enjoy having her around.... she is just WAY to much trouble to bother leveling her up, and I would get no real benefit from doing so

ghastley

If you re-equip your tank as DPS, then you become that other role. Companions let you learn to tank as a tank. Or heal as a healer. They offer a chance that all characters won’t become the same build, because that is the only one you use solo. Fake tanks and fake healers won’t go away, but you may find more real ones.

Treselegant

Ember seems super squishy as a character so I often see her face down at world events and bosses, probably more than any other companion. Obviously, that she's new and probably not levelled has an impact here but she does seem to keel over fairly easily.

I use Bastian as my main companion because kitted out with vigorous trait armour and weapons he's just really good at surviving and keeping enemies' attention away from my sorc. That I like him as a character is great luck for me. Even if I could stand Ember's hyperactive, book hating personality, gameplay wise I would no need of her anyway.

Utility in battle is probably secondry for most players with companions. Which is why companions should be given more dialogue etc to make them better company because its what a lot of players use them for. Company in the loosest sense perhaps but I think a lot humans have a remarkable ability to feel empathy for anything with a face.

FantasticFreddie

Treselegant wrote: »

Ember seems super squishy as a character so I often see her face down at world events and bosses, probably more than any other companion. Obviously, that she's new and probably not levelled has an impact here but she does seem to keel over fairly easily.

I use Bastian as my main companion because kitted out with vigorous trait armour and weapons he's just really good at surviving and keeping enemies' attention away from my sorc. That I like him as a character is great luck for me. Even if I could stand Ember's hyperactive, book hating personality, gameplay wise I would no need of her anyway.

Utility in battle is probably secondry for most players with companions. Which is why companions should be given more dialogue etc to make them better company because its what a lot of players use them for. Company in the loosest sense perhaps but I think a lot humans have a remarkable ability to feel empathy for anything with a face.

I keep her around because I like her chatter, she has some fun lines. I actively avoid combat with her tho LOL

Treselegant

I actively avoid combat with her tho LOL

Its bit of a catch 22 - she needs to be levelled to get better but dies so easily it seems a hassle to even try. As a mostly role play feature, companions probably should have more sources of xp to level up. I got Bastian levelled reasonably easily by running normal dungeons with him but when I tried to level Mirri the effort was so painful I gave up at level 16.

FantasticFreddie

Treselegant wrote: »

I actively avoid combat with her tho LOL

Its bit of a catch 22 - she needs to be levelled to get better but dies so easily it seems a hassle to even try. As a mostly role play feature, companions probably should have more sources of xp to level up. I got Bastian levelled reasonably easily by running normal dungeons with him but when I tried to level Mirri the effort was so painful I gave up at level 16.

Yeah better xp gains and some passive rapport gains would definitely up my enjoyment of her, and make me more likely to unlock another companion.
They should still let poor Ember use some dang runes and enchant something!

zaria

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

Treselegant wrote: »

I actively avoid combat with her tho LOL

Its bit of a catch 22 - she needs to be levelled to get better but dies so easily it seems a hassle to even try. As a mostly role play feature, companions probably should have more sources of xp to level up. I got Bastian levelled reasonably easily by running normal dungeons with him but when I tried to level Mirri the effort was so painful I gave up at level 16.

Yeah better xp gains and some passive rapport gains would definitely up my enjoyment of her, and make me more likely to unlock another companion.
They should still let poor Ember use some dang runes and enchant something!

Let her do enchanting surveys for this one.
I say companions make world bosses easier is set up with healing as they heal you and themselves and they take agro from time to time, like pets they protect you if you have to go afk overland or in an delve and mobs spawns on you

dogshaman

For this one, Ember is an essential boon companion.

On many occasions she has saved Washargo!

Just recently, while fighting a boss for a mythic lead, this one was down to a sliver of health.
And as the boss reared back for the killing blow, Ember courageously leaped forth, while throwing a small shield spell to stave off this one's death!
She will fearlessly take aggro with fast, hard hitting lightning spells to draw the mobs away so that Washargo can destroy them from the flank!

If you play to a companion's strengths, then they will always be a benefit.
For Ember, she likes the lightning staff and high level equipment that will help speed up her actions and achievements.